Julie B Gustavson, Attorney

After graduating from the University of Washington, Seattle, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Photography, Julie began a co-career as a professional musician and public relations executive.  She was part of the back-up orchestras at Lake Tahoe and Reno for such headliners Steve & Edie, The Carpenters and the Osmond Brothers, and also was a performing member of the Sacramento Symphony for a number of years.  She was a harp instructor at Chico State College, commuting from Sacramento, while serving as Public Relations Director for the Sacramento Board of REALTORS.  She also traveled to Stockton on weekends to teach her private students, who attended Lincoln High School in Stockton.  Seeing no opportunity for further advancement at the Board of REALTORS, Julie obtained her real estate sales license in 1976 and began a career as a real estate agent.   In 1980, Julie obtained her broker’s license and continued listing and selling residential properties in the greater Sacramento area.

In 1984 Ms. Gustavson started law school at the University of Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento as an evening student.  Continuing to work fulltime while attending law school, Julie graduated with honors, Order of the Coif in 1988 and was admitted to the California State Bar later that year, after passing the Bar Exam taken that summer. 

After working as a law clerk for Hefner, Stark and Marois, Attorney Gustavson began the practice of law with that firm as an associate attorney in the fall of 1988, concentrating in real estate transactional work and civil litigation.  The training and experience she gained while working at the Hefner firm have served her well as she has further pursued her career, continuing in the real estate field, but expanding into estate planning, helping people plan and prepare for the careful transfer of their assets upon their demise.

In anticipation of the arrival of her adoptive son from Russia in 1994, Ms. Gustavson opened her own private practice in 1994, and continued in the role as a sole practitioner for the following 10 years, drawing on the guidance she had received from her mentors at Hefner, Stark & Marois.  She became a certified mediator in 1996, expanding her practice in include mediation of real estate and business disputes.  In 2004, however, Julie had an opportunity to serve as in-house counsel for a real estate investment firm in the Fresno area.  She relocated to Fresno and served in that capacity for three years, then moved into a position as broker and in-house counsel for a real estate and brokerage firm.  

Returning to the Sacramento area, Ms. Gustavson joined United Law Center in April of 2012 in the capacity as a senior litigation and transactional attorney in the areas of mortgage fraud, real estate transactions and estate planning.

Attorney Gustavson now composes harp music, is an avid golfer, and is a devoted mom.  She has also written four children’s books and a book about the adoption of her son, from her point of view and from her adoptive son’s point of view.  She proudly boasts of her son, now a handsome college student in Fresno.